Sunday, June 10, 2007

Room 56A

The Red

The blocks of red on red on red by black around

by black by black by line by line by round. The

red in red of red in red where black by back the

white around. Around the bound about the

white the red more red comes up the red. It

rears its head. The eye the see the sight to see.

The eye the see the light the sight.

And light,

The light not light not bright not dim not sun.

The sun not round not up not down. The blue

not there not green not grey. The g rey ungrey

not grey not black . The up not down the down

not up.

And the black not black not black on night. The

light alight but light not light.

The clock is dead.

The clock awake alive like head. The head like

blood like hot is red.

The squares the slabs the reds the blocks are

chops of chunks: the chunks the chunks the bits.

The monks. And the red the red and round the

black. (There is no black).

To you my red my square my thing: I fall

and blubber like a sun-struck king.

The red on red of red the blocks. The orange

the green the blue. The see the sight the

steel the grey. The shape the tall the dark the

great. The high the high. The finger like a finger

on the sky.

The eye the seen.

The green.

O my Blocks my reds my Reds my blocks: orange

is not is gNomes is gone.

And the rEd in red. (There is no red)

The square that's not thAt's never that's there.

If red be red nOt is not green:

Then red on red of red is you my thing.

aNd

if that is you by blocks by b l a c k are red around.

And black is black as black is black.

And red is red is red.

4 comments:

alan said...

I love the length and 'meander' of these, like tongues (in both senses of the word) spilling down the page. With the spiral image cut into the rock (below) - where is this? The photographs are great as well.

- Alan

Richard said...

Alan hi! The images are - photographs are from my own area (Panmure in Auckland) but as I started with a poem about the rabbis (in the archives) it wandered onto the Holocaust - then I got stuck (what can one say after Auschwitcz etc) - so I then started "lightening up" so the images include those of the Tamaki Estaury or Panmure where I live and my son and I walk around there (and up Maungarei) everyday - near that estuary you see was Maori pa ...and the Maori used the place to move from the Waikato to North Auckland. They also built waka - canoes. The spiral sculpture (Maori) I found on my walks I dont know what it is or who did it. It stands strangely alone and neglected as if not finished - its not ancient... recent. Maori still do carving (whakairo) (the carvings and moko (tatoos) tell a story etc (there are some Maori working on bone, wood, and other; in fact not far from me - they have a workshop) - the while the series is to show my optimism (that is my conditional optimism - to contrast with the dark previous images) and belief in technology (I am really fascinated by the transformer as much as by the trees) and people and the struggle (hence the Mao Tse Tung book as a possible "solution") and the Maori... BTW it means: "We shall never surrender" (proclaimed at famous battle) (the Maoris - won most battles easily) were never actually beaten in war by the British BTW - they were beaten by lawyers, numbers of immigrants, and land sharks)

I also included a pic of my grandson with his huge teddybear! He is older now!

This stuff contrasts with the previous posts that were pretty dark ..if you go back...

I wait until I get things kind of ready in my mind - although I do have "plan" - then I do a lot of images or texts... my images are bit crude so far.

Yes "tongues" in both senses! The texts are languages - the images are language also!

Thanks for you comment..Richard

Anonymous said...

Looks great! Almost simulates the effect of the language in one of your live performances of the piece. It's a pity colour publishing isn't cheaper, because the material on this book would make a very nice book.

(Maps)

Richard said...

Thanks Maps - I want to eventually 'be an artist' (I am an artist) -that is a "maker" (poesis in Gk.) -that is I dont want to be confined to one medium... or even one style or topic - BTW all the images I put up have significnace. (except there are practical limitations to "broadbanding"). In one sense this is deconstruction of 'The Red' and in another a celebration - or it is both or neither! But all of the earlier images have significance in relation to the original topic poem which was - well it led to the Holocaust.

I would love to see book using colour...this may not be impossible.

Also as indicated earlier -it is the joy of the act that counts - when this came up I was surprised the blown away myself! I was very excited by doing it... All done so far with relatively primitave tools -the version of Word I have for example and a cheap digital camera.